Saturday, July 16, 2011

Love My GO!!

I’ve had my Accuquilt GO! for quite a while but have not posted a tutorial or project as there are a zillion around…tons on the wonderful Accuquilt site and even more on YouTube! And although I don’t do video, I hope you’ll find this tut of still photos instructional! :-)

Those of you who are teachers or have worked or volunteered in a school- especially an elementary school in the last 10 years or so, have seen and used an Ellison Letter Machine. And if you have, then you know how to use the Accuquilt GO! and Baby. It works exactly the same but you use fabric instead of construction paper!

Ok, so meet my GO! and all her dies! I have three die racks full and already need a fourth.

I keep the die instruction guides that come with the die in a big binder along with some printed out charts from the Accuquilt website

and the Block of the Month instruction sheets that you can get when you sign up for their newletter on the web site.

So, it’s summer and I’m dyin’ to make a new quilt using my Halloween fat quarters and scraps. And what it realllly HOT right now in quilting??? Tumbler quilts! And I have the 6 1/2” tumbler die for my GO!

So, I’m starting with one packet of 8 FQ’s. I press each FQ flat then fold it into thirds and then fold it again into half and cut across the last fold giving me two folded pieces that will make 6 tumblers in two batches of three. Accuquilt suggests cutting no more than 4 layers or less at one time depending on the fabric thickness. And, to make it easier to see the cutting edges, they suggest you trace the die cutting outline on the rubber with a permanent Sharpie.

I lay one folded piece on the die, making sure the edges completely cover the die cutting marks.

Cover it with the thick opaque plastic cutting mat.

Roll it under the center bar using the handle

and when it comes out on the other side, remove the plastic mat and VOILA!!!

The three tumblers are all cut out

and you can either throw away the leftover scraps or toss them in your scrap bin.

So, I cut out 6 tumblers from the 8 FQ’s, then I used a few pieces of scrap yardage from my stash to cut some more…

and this is what I’ve got up on the design wall so far!

I want to make it bigger, so will now get out my Halloween scrap bin and use all the pieces big enough to cover the die!!

So, now I’ve got it the size I want- 13 tumblers across by 10 tumblers down.

I hope to sew them all together today, then I will trim the outside edges straight. I’ll be back soon with the finished quilt!! Time to sew!!

How cute! I did some research yesterday to try to find some quilt dies for my Sizzix Big Kick, but had no luck. There's no GO in my immediate future, but there may be a Tumbler Quilt! thanks for the tut!

That is so cute, I keep on debating on getting a GO lots of different opinions out there.Right now I am working on a quilt for my grandson called "The very hungry caterpillar" It is all cut out so on to sewing. I sat down at the computer and bad bad! I have been saving fabrics for something Halloween .

Polly I love your idea of putting those sheets in a three ring binder. I'm not sure why I haven't already done that since I put everything else in binders! I have that tumbler die too and lots of Halloween fabrics so I might just be copying you when I get home. blessings, marlene